Bulldogs to Compete at Penn State National

Oct 14, 2009

Last Meet of Regular Season

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale cross country team
will compete in a hugely stacked field this weekend at the Penn
State National Invitational. Hosted by Penn State in University
Park, Pa., this race draws nearly 300 runners from 28 NCAA Division
I and Division II schools around the country. This is the Bulldogs'
last meet of the regular season before competing in championship
meets.

Last year was Yale's first competing at this high-caliber
competition, when the Bulldogs tied for 13th among a
field of 28 teams. Up to 12 runners from each team can compete, and
Yale will bring a mix of athletes who know the course from running
it last year and athletes for whom a meet of this size is new.

The 6k race is on Penn State's Blue/White Golf Course. 6k is the
standard NCAA championship distance; the Bulldogs will run a 6k
course at the Heptagonals Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in
two weeks.

The last time the Bulldogs ran a 6k course, at the Iona Meet of
Champions, they finished in an incredibly tight group that had run
together throughout the race. Freshman Elizabeth
Marvin was Yale's first finisher in 24:01.43, and
sophomore Anne Lovelace, who was Yale's fifth
runner, crossed the finish line only eight seconds later.

Now that the team has had more time to train together, hopefully
they can race in a tight pack again. The Bulldogs who should be a
part of that pack include Marvin, Lovelace (who was Yale's top
finisher at the Harvard-Yale meet two weeks ago), freshman
Nihal Kayali (who has been doing better every
race), senior captain Stephany Reaves and senior
Stephanie Pearl.

The host, Penn State, is currently ranked 16th
nationwide in the USTFCCCA poll. Third-ranked West Virginia will
also be at the invitational, as well as several teams that are
ranked in the northeast region: Providence (2), Boston College (3),
Stony Brook (4) and UConn (10). Ivy League competitors Penn and
Cornell (6) will also be competing. Yale will have to work hard to
prove itself against these teams.